Up to an estimated 20,000 people
marched in a parade demanding equal rights for LGBT people held
Saturday in Chile's capital of Santiago, breaking an attendance
record for the annual event.
The 14th iteration of
Chile's Marcha por la Diversidad Sexual (Sexual Diversity March)
stepped off from Plaza Italia, the huge roundabout located in the
heart of the city. A simultaneous demonstration held in Concepcion drew a smaller
crowd.
A sudden rain in the Chilean capital
briefly dampened the enthusiasm of revelers.
Organizers called the event part
protest and part celebration.
“We need to have the same rights as
the entire heterosexual community, because we are all equal before
the law, that's what concerns us,” Marcelino Jara of the gay rights
group Accion Gay (Gay Action) is quoted as saying by Spanish news
agency EFE.
Co-sponsors of the event included
Movimento por la Diversidad Sexual, Coordinadora Euforia de Genero
and Accion Gay.